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TIL there are species of sponges made of glass (silicon dioxide) which have excellent strength and flexibility, better than current fibre optic technology

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Db9J TIL a sound produced on Earth sounds very different if produced on Mars. The composition and pressure of the Martian atmosphere distort sounds to a lower pitch, and planetary.org has samples for you to hear.
5YnPr TIL that Karen Wetterhahn, a researcher at Dartmouth College, died within a year of exposure to merely 2 drops of dimethyl mercury on her gloved hand.
QNyNX TIL that Scots is not just a dialect of English, but a proper language with its own spelling. For example, “efter aw I’v duin for ye” is Scots for “after all I’ve done for you.”
OooML TIL in 1996 and 1997, Emily Rosa, 9, tested 21 therapeutic touch practitioners whether their claims to detect "human energy fields" were true. After finding they were right only 44% of the time, she published the results on 1998, becoming the youngest person to have a research paper published.
jNAOj TIL about Sam Ballard, a 29 year old Aussie who died 8 years after eating a slug on a dare. The slug carried rat lungworm, a rare parasite that can penetrate the intestine, traverse the nervous system, and burrow into the brain’s outer lining. While most infected recover, the parasite can be fatal.